Live6
When was it organized?
September 2015
Who is completing this survey? Name and role with organization:
Lauren Hood, (former) Acting Co-Director
Choose one category that best fits your organization:
Community Development Organization (not sponsored by a church or agency or company)
Does your organization have paid staff?
3
What is the annual budget of your organization?
$350,000
Describe the streets or locations that define your organization’s overall focus area (north, south, east and/or west):
- 8 Mile — N
- Lodge Freeway — W and S
- Hamilton Avenue — E
Describe in detail the work your organization does, within the role categories below, along with the specific geographic area in which the work is done. Refer to the definitions below of the community development roles we are inquiring about. Include any partner organizations you work with, and how the work is funded or otherwise resourced. Use extra pages if necessary. If your organization doesn’t do work in one or more of the role categories, just skip that portion of the survey.
Convening/Facilitating/Collaborations: General Description
- The focus area for the kick off of Live6 is right in between Marygrove and University Detroit Mercy. We want to see something right between the schools. We’re focused on 6 Mile, but do somethings on Livernois south of 6 Mile.
People have been able to have better feelings about the UMD because they have been able to interact with them. There’s been a lot of dispelling of myths.
- We convene a monthly community advisory board made up of property owners, business owners, block club presidents, and longtime residents.
- We convene developers, property owners and funders quarterly or semi-annually.
- We convene residents and the general public for a community dialogue (Speakeasy) monthly.
- We partner with a lot of organizations to produce events.
- We partner with Build Institute to produce open city events, which is a panel of local entrepreneurs addressing a group of would-be entrepreneurs.
- We partner with Detroit Creative Corridor for our Drinks by Design event on campus.
- Through the Civic Commons Initiative, we collaborate with the city, DCDC and Invest Detroit. This is a 3 year program where you have to collaborate working on an initiative on 6 Mile near Detroit Sip.
- We collaborate with the Fitz Forward Team, which is a development team rehabbing 350 homes. We jointly applied for a grant from Chase and Century.
Convening/Facilitating/Collaborations: Partner Organizations
- Build Institute
- Detroit Creative Corridor
- DEGC/Motor City Match
- Ambassador Organization/NEI
- Marygrove College
- Detroit Mercy
- Civic Commons Initiative
- DCDC
- Invest Detroit
- Fitz Forward
Convening/Facilitating/Collaborations: Funders
- Kresge
- Chase
- Century
Convening/Facilitating/Collaborations: Important Outcomes or Lessons
Outcomes:
- There are no physical outcomes yet.
- We’ve facilitated people building relationships. The president of University Detroit Mercy (UMD) is interacting with residents.
- At the Dine and Develop events, we get a bunch of different stakeholders (CDFI, real estate and property owners) in the room with residents and the residents get to say their piece. There’s a lot of networking and planting of seeds.
- People have been able to have better feelings about the UMD because they have been able to interact with them. There’s been a lot of dispelling of myths.
Lessons:
- Do more listening than talking and don’t be afraid to hear negative criticism.
- Be intentional about the words that you use because you want the conversations to be accessible to everyone.
- Have events and conversations at places that are comfortable.
- Try to make the process accessible to people.
- Always have food.
Resident Engagement/Empowerment: General Description
- Boundaries: Livernois and 6 Mile and Livernois south of 6 Mile
- Our advisory board has some leeway to advise, but they aren’t decision makers with the organization. They were initially told there would be a path to the executive board through advisory membership, but that’s not happening.
Be intentional about the words that you use because you want the conversations to be accessible to everyone.
- There are no residents on the board.
Resident Engagement/Empowerment: Partner Organizations
- San Juan Block Club
- Fitzgerald Community Council
- Bagley Community Council
- University District Community Association
- College Core Community
- Marygrove Community Association
- Princeton Street Block Club
Resident Engagement/Empowerment: Funders
Kresge
Resident Engagement/Empowerment: Important Outcomes or Lessons
Outcomes:
- We’ve facilitated people building relationships. The president of University Detroit Mercy (UMD) is interacting with residents.
- At the Dine and Develop events, we get a bunch of different stakeholders (CDFI, real estate and property owners) in the room with residents and the residents get to say their piece. There’s a lot of networking and planting of seeds.
- People have been able to have better feelings about the UMD because they have been able to interact with them. There’s been a lot of dispelling of myths.
Lessons:
- Do more listening than talking and don’t be afraid to hear negative criticism.
- Be intentional about the words that you use because you want the conversations to be accessible to everyone.
- Have events and conversations at places that are comfortable.
- Try to make the process accessible to people.
- Always have food.
Economic Development: General Description
- We play more of a convener role in economic development. We bring together a would-be business owner with a property owner and try to make a match.
- We don’t always advocate Motor City Match, but try to make an organic match.
We’ve learnt that there is a lot of help in the ecosystem to get new businesses open, but after that people struggle. People need money for marketing and decor.
- We direct business owners to service providers.
- We work with UDM’s Center for Social Entrepreneurship and direct people there and to Build Institute.
- We’re discussing acquiring property.
- Some of the properties that Invest Detroit has purchased in our corridor, we will take a vested interest in (6 Mile).
- We activate vacant spaces (pop ups), hold events and bring in electrical and porta johns and pay rental fees.
Economic Development: Partner Organizations
- UMD
- Detroit Institute
- DEGC
- Invest Detroit
- Capital Impact
Economic Development: Funders
- Capital Impact
- Kresge
Economic Development: Important Outcomes or Lessons
Outcomes:
Seeds have been planted through passing on information to people that they didn’t have before.
Lessons:
- One size does not fit all e.g. for Motor City Match you have to borrow money from a short list of lenders and take a lien on a property, which is uncomfortable for some people. A lot of people don’t have access to information i.e. more people would sign up if they knew about the programs. Some people are leery of borrowing money and people have pride in doing it themselves. We know who this program is benefitting and it’s not really benefiting the residents.
- We’ve learnt that there is a lot of help in the ecosystem to get new businesses open, but after that people struggle. People need money for marketing and decor.
- The real estate and business piece often fail. Properties have been vacant for 20 to 30 years so they’re starting at sub zero.
Resident Support: General Description
We don’t do any human service work.
Community Planning and Advocacy: General Description
- When thinking about new programs, we vet them in front of the advisory board and try to incorporate their thoughts, but we don’t do anything beyond that.
We’re not really in the community planning and advocacy sphere. The community is not really planning to help people get across the finish line.
- We advocate for inclusive development so that residents are included in this process.
Community Planning and Advocacy: Partner Organizations
Advisory members
Community Planning and Advocacy: Funders
- Kresge ($250,000)
- UMD ($100,000)
- Our line items are placemaking, safety, business attraction and retention and corridor real estate development
Community Planning and Advocacy: Important Outcomes or Lessons
Lessons:
We’re not really in the community planning and advocacy sphere. The community is not really planning to help people get across the finish line.
Frequency Rank
Convening Facilitating
5
Resident Engagement
4
Economic Development
3
Resident Support
1
Community Planning and Advocacy
2
Can you please point us to other organizations in Detroit — especially in your immediate neighborhood — that are doing community development work? (Organization name, contact name, email, phone)
University Commons: focused in the Avenue of Fashion
Information current as of April 20, 2017